The ex-wife of Dwyane Wade has accused him of using their transgender 15-year-old daughter for financial benefit and is pleading with a judge to get involved.
The Blast was given access to court documents filed this week in which Siohvaughn Funches-Wade pleaded with the judge to issue a restraining order prohibiting their 15-year-old daughter Zaya from legally changing her gender from male to female until she is 18.
In 2020, Zaya, as she is now called, came out when she was 12 years old.
Since then, she has gained hundreds of thousands of social media followers as well as modeling contracts with companies like Tiffany.
She usually makes an appearance on red carpets with her father and stepmother Gabrielle Union, who have publicly discussed their support of the kid and her decision in interviews.
However, according to Zaya’s mother, Dwyane is forcing her to make the move.
In her court statement, she said, “I am concerned that (Dwyane) may be forcing our kid to go with the name and gender transition in order to take advantage of the money offers that he has received from corporations.”
She referred to an April chat in which Dwyane informed her that “a lot of money has already been made and that extra money would be earned in reference to our child’s name and gender problem.”
She asserts that “(Dwyane) advised me that there would be endorsements/contracts linked therewith and that he planned to make our kid highly famous owing to the name and gender problem.”
“I am worried that our kid is being marketed at an early age and also of the uncontrolled effects of media exposure, such as cyberbullying, words and/or images of our child taken out of context, and the unwelcome spotlight shone on our child,” the writer writes.
Union and Wade haven’t reacted to the allegations in the media.
December has been set aside for a hearing.
Wade and Siohvaughn were wed from 2002 until 2010. Zaire, their 20-year-old elder son, is also a shared child.